Helping hands: Community comes to aid of flood victims

The news has not been good out of Louisiana and Mississippi.

Repairing the damage done by Hurricane Katrina could have a pricetag of many, many billions of dollars — and that does not even include the cost in loss of life and livelihood for many of the families torn apart by the storm.

The stories have been heartbreaking.

But what should lift our hearts during this trying time — and make us feel pretty good about being Wayne County residents — is the outpouring of support for flood victims that is coming from this area.

Every day there is a new project, a new set of volunteers and a new reason to be proud that this community has not forgotten that there are people behind the numbers in Mississippi and Louisiana.

There are plenty of places to take donated goods, and the local chapters of the Red Cross and United Way are already working to make sure local donations and volunteers get to the places where they are most needed.

Often, when you talk to a local volunteer, one of the first comments he or she makes is that he or she remembers what it was like to be a flood victim.

They remember how much it meant to know that strangers took the time to send a donation or offered their services as Eastern North Carolina families tried to battle back after their bout with Hurricane Floyd.

That is why, they say, they are giving back now.

The comfort that is being offered to families locally is heart-warming, too. There are many evacuees who have found new friends and, possibly, new homes, right here in Wayne County.

There will be more news about Hurricane Katrina, but there will be none of which Wayne County can be prouder than what its citizens of all ages did when they were called on to return the favor of support, donations and caring.

That is what a real community does.

Published in Editorials on September 13, 2005 10:31 AM